The present invention relates to footwear. In particular, the invention involves a versatile amphibious shoe which is useful for swimming and surfing as well as standing or walking.
For many years swim fins have been used by swimmers to increase swimming power and speed. The typical swim fin includes a rubber shoe and a forwardly extending widened blade for maximizing surface area and water resistance during water kicking activities. A principal problem with the common swim fin is that the blade hinders the user's walking motion once the user gets out of the water. Thus, it is often necessary for the user to remove the swim fin before exiting the water. However, some sports such as surfing, water aerobics and water polo require frequent and rapid movement between swimming and standing activities. In these sports there is no time to take fins on and off or to make adjustments without interrupting the continuity of the activity. Therefore, use of conventional swim fins for such sports has been practically precluded.
For example, ocean and wind surfers have a need for swim fins to increase kicking and swimming power while in the water. However, it is not convenient for them to use conventional swim fins because they interfere with the surfer's ability to frequently and agilely move in and out of the water and the surfer does not usually have time to remove the fins before mounting the surf board.
Prior inventors have recognize the need for amphibious footwear. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,903,719 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,039 disclose shoes with removable fins. Such footwear is cumbersome and impractical for the following reasons. First, the user often does not have time to attach or detach a fin to the shoe as he moves between land and water. Second, the fin components must be carried or dragged around when they are not being used. Thus, prior amphibious swim-shoe designs are not satisfactory for activities where the user has to rapidly move back and forth between water and land activities.
Another problem with prior swim fins, such as the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,903,719 is that the shoe component of the fin tends to collect sand or other matter causing discomfort. This problem is particularly pronounced in swim fins which are cut relatively low on the sides and are open over the upper arch area of the user's foot. The problem is also particularly prevalent when the fins are worn around sandy areas such as beaches.
Others have produced footwear which can be worn versatilely in and out of water but which fail to enhance the swimmer's kicking power. Such aquatic shoe or "aqua sock" type footwear typically consists of a foot-shaped sock component supported by a rubber sole. While aqua socks can be worn in and out of water, they have no fin or other mechanism for allowing a swimmer to increase kicking power. Moreover, the sole on a typical aqua sock is not sufficiently rigid to adequately support or stabilize a fin blade during swimming.
Thus, an objective of the present invention is to provide a comfortable amphibious swim-shoe which is useful for increasing kicking power, yet can be worn versatilely on land and in water.
Another objective of the invention is to provide amphibious footwear which can be comfortably worn for walking on land without manipulating or removing a component of the footwear.
Another objective of the invention is to produce a swim-shoe which is not susceptible to picking up sand or other debris which is typically present around beaches.